"I don't want to wish ill will on anybody, but I would be lying to you if I said it didn't feel a little bit fun to hear that -- that there wasn't some kind of feeling of reward in that," says the sidekick.

Revenge!

In an interview with the New York Post, Andy Richter admits he's pleased that Jay Leno's ratings have dipped below Conan O'Brien's in light of O'Brien's ouster as Tonight Show host after just six months. Nielsen numbers show that Leno has lost 21 percent in his overall audience compared to 2008, and is attracting fewer viewers than O’Brien in the coveted 18-49 demo. [pullquote]

"I don't want to wish ill will on anybody, but I would be lying to you if I said it didn't feel a little bit fun to hear that -- that there wasn't some kind of feeling of reward in that," Richter tells the New York Post.

"It is kind of vindicating in a way. I think that one of the reasons we ended up leaving was because of their impatience with us," he goes on. "And I think that was a mistake on their part. So I had a hunch about that, and it is nice to have that hunch seemingly proven true."

Richter says their new TBS show, Conan, which premieres Nov. 8, is "similar, but dare I say, more relaxed. And happier," than their previous NBC late-night shows.

"We are starting from scratch here," Richter says. "This is the first time that Conan and I are starting up a show where we weren't replacing somebody. So there are no footsteps to follow in. It is like our first grownup party where we don't have to worry about our parents coming home and yelling at us about doing something wrong."

Richter also downplays rumors that the network spent $1 million coming up with the name for the show.

"If you spent 10 minutes here, you would realize how silly that question is. There is not a commission about anything. Most decisions are just kind of made on the fly. 'How about Conan?' 'Ok, good,'" he jokes.